Like everyone else, promoter Bob Arum wants to see a Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua super-fight takes place. Arum, in speaking with Sky Sports, says the fight will be worked on for some time next year – if Joshua beats Kubrat Pulev. As fans know, Pulev has been waiting and waiting for his IBF mandatory shot at Joshua, and the fight will happen next as Pulev has made it clear, he will not step aside at all.
Arum said he wants Pulev to win as he is “my fighter,” but he stated how if AJ does win and then if he and Eddie Hearn can meet in person, a fight between Joshua and Fury would be made “within the course of one day.”
“If Joshua beats Pulev, if that happens, then obviously we would go ahead and do a Fury and Joshua fight sometime next year,” Arum said. “I don’t think the negotiations would be fraught with difficulty; I think we could negotiate the deal if we met in person, within the course of one day. We’re not known for playing games at Top Rank; we understand how to handle Eddie [Hearn] – I worked for many years with his father, Barry, who I consider to be a good friend. Frank [Warren] will come to the table, and we’ll get it done, and my prediction would be, we’d get it done in the course of one day.”
Sounds great, right? But will Arum, Warren, and Hearn all come together in person and make the fight? There is a lot of egos involved, as we know. If all parties are reasonable and really, truly, honestly want to make this fight, then it should be as easy and as straightforward as Arum suggests. The old-school promoter has always been able to cut a deal and make the big fights, but things have, of course, changed.
Making a big fight shouldn’t be as incredibly hard as it can often prove to be these days, but it sure is. Let’s hope Arum can take Hearn back to yesteryear when the making of a fight was far more smooth. The sport needs Fury Vs. Joshua. It cannot be allowed to go the way of Joshua Vs. Deontay Wilder.
